Village planning board details hotel conditions

PENN YAN—The village of Penn Yan planning board conditionally approved both a subdivision application and a site plan review for Chris Iversen to allow the construction of a Hampton Inn during their regular meeting Monday, Oct. 7. The 72 room, three to four story hotel will be built along Mace and Lake Streets and will include a pedestrian walking path to connect the north and south lots. Iversen said he hopes to have the hotel operating by May 2015.
Ryan Destro of BME Associates said the subdivision creates three lots, with the hotel in the north lot and the former Sarrasin’s Restaurant to the south, along with an empty parcel for future use. He said the hotel will have 100 parking spaces and will have two access points from Mace Street and one from Lake Street. Destro said the building will be three stories in the front facing Mace Street and four stories facing out toward Keuka Lake.
Destro said the building will be around 50 feet high and will require a height variance due to village code. He said he has also received verbal commitment from the Department of Environmental Conservation for a storm water collection pond.
The walking path will be open to the general public and will follow the lake shore. Board member Brent Bodine said the village has lighting along all existing trails and there needs to be a discussion of options for lighting along the new segment. Iversen said there is a concern about the path running along where the restaurant would hold private events. Iversen said in this case they will close down that section of the path and have an alternate path going behind the hotel.
Iversen said there is an intent to refurbish the dock located by the restaurant, but he did not want to burden the site plan with the promise until he is permitted to. The board granted conditional approval to the hotel pending issues with signage, lighting along the pedestrian trail and a height variance approval by the village.
In other business:
• The board conditionally approved a subdivision application to convert five lots along Lake Street and Kimball Avenue into seven. Rick Willson said he is the agent for the subdivision, not the developer, and is dividing the lots to give more flexibility to the storefronts located there. Bodine said he had verbal confirmation from the developer the intent is to sell the parcels. The board approved the subdivision under the conditions lot six has proper lot coverage, public and sewer infrastructure is dealt with by the village municipal board, a private hydrant is dealt with and there are proper setbacks for fire code.
• Village Code Enforcement Officer Bruce Lyon was granted a special use permit for a microbrewery in the basement of Ray Spencer’s liquor store along Water Street. He said it was approximately 3,000 square feet with a tasting room up front and a production room in back. Lyon said they have received their federal license to produce beer and are in the process of getting their state license.